Environmental Groups in North Carolina Revive Lawsuit Seeking Chemours Testing on 54 PFAS
In 2020, the Center for Environmental Health and other groups petitioned EPA to require Chemours to conduct studies on 54 different per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, they contend are putting hundreds of thousands of North Carolina residents at risk. The Trump administration rejected the petition in January 2021, and the groups filed their complaint in California federal court in March 2021. The Biden administration said it would reconsider the matter and the groups paused the lawsuit, which was filed under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In December, EPA partially granted the groups’ petition. In January, the Northern District of California allowed the litigation to resume. The groups complained that EPA only agreed to require limited testing on 7 of 54 of the PFAS that it announced would be tested under its general PFAS testing strategy. According to the groups’ complaint, Chemours makes the 54 PFAS at its chemical production facility in Fayetteville, North Carolina, allegedly impacting local residents through drinking water, air emissions, surface water, sediment, stormwater, groundwater, and locally grown produce. EPA noted in a court filing that it intends to petition the court to move the case to North Carolina federal court.
January 27, 2022 | Center for Environmental Health, et al. v. EPA, (N.D.C.A.)